'Seat' of explosion at fertilizer plant located

Updated 12:08 pm, Sunday, April 21, 2013

Photo: Houston Chronicle

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Law enforcement and rescue personnel search the damage to an apartment complex from the explosion of the West Fertilizer plant on Thursday, April 18, 2013, in West, Texas. A massive explosion at the plant killed as many as 15 people and injured more than 160, officials said overnight. ( Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle )

Law enforcement and rescue personnel search the damage to an apartment complex from the explosion of the West Fertilizer plant on Thursday, April 18, 2013, in West, Texas. A massive explosion at the plant

Little is left to the West Fertilizer plant as seen in an aerial view of the plant on Thursday, April 18, 2013, in West, Texas. A massive explosion at the plant killed as many as 15 people and injured more than 160, officials said overnight. ( Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle )

Little is left to the West Fertilizer plant as seen in an aerial view of the plant on Thursday, April 18, 2013, in West, Texas. A massive explosion at the plant killed as many as 15 people and injured more

Damage from the explosion of the West Fertilizer plant is seen in an aerial view of the city on Thursday, April 18, 2013, in West, Texas. The plant is a the bottom of the photo. An apartment complex is at center. A nursing home is at top. ( Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle )

Damage from the explosion of the West Fertilizer plant is seen in an aerial view of the city on Thursday, April 18, 2013, in West, Texas. The plant is a the bottom of the photo. An apartment complex is at

Law enforcement and rescue personnel search the damage to an apartment complex from the explosion of the West Fertilizer plant on Thursday, April 18, 2013, in West, Texas. A massive explosion at the plant killed as many as 15 people and injured more than 160, officials said overnight. ( Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle )

Law enforcement and rescue personnel search the damage to an apartment complex from the explosion of the West Fertilizer plant on Thursday, April 18, 2013, in West, Texas. A massive explosion at the plant

Smoke rises Thursday April 18, 2013 from an area where an explosion took place at a fertilizer plant near the Town of West, Texas. West is near Waco, Texas.

Smoke rises Thursday April 18, 2013 from an area where an explosion took place at a fertilizer plant near the Town of West, Texas. West is near Waco, Texas.

Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, John Davenport/Express-News

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Smoke rises Thursday April 18, 2013 from an area where an explosion took place at a fertilizer plant near the Town of West, Texas. West is near Waco, Texas.

Smoke rises Thursday April 18, 2013 from an area where an explosion took place at a fertilizer plant near the Town of West, Texas. West is near Waco, Texas.

Photo: John Davenport/Express-News

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Firefighters set a brace to hold up a sagging beam during a search and rescue operation at an apartment complex destroyed by an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, Thursday, April 18, 2013. A massive explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. killed as many as 15 people and injured more than 160, officials said overnight. The explosion that struck around 8 p.m. Wednesday, sent flames shooting into the night sky and rained burning embers and debris down on shocked and frightened residents. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Firefighters set a brace to hold up a sagging beam during a search and rescue operation at an apartment complex destroyed by an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, Thursday, April 18, 2013. A

This aerial photo shows a local school, at rear, and an apartment complex, at middle right, near a fertilizer plant explosion site Thursday, April 18, 2013, in Near West, Texas. A massive explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. killed as many as 15 people and injured more than 160, officials said overnight. The explosion that struck around 8 p.m. Wednesday, sent flames shooting into the night sky and rained burning embers and debris down on shocked and frightened residents. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

This aerial photo shows a local school, at rear, and an apartment complex, at middle right, near a fertilizer plant explosion site Thursday, April 18, 2013, in Near West, Texas. A massive explosion at the West

Damage from the explosion of the West Fertilizer plant, at right, is seen in an aerial view on Thursday, April 18, 2013, in West, Texas. A nursing home is at left. An apartment complex is at center. A massive explosion at the plant killed as many as 15 people and injured more than 160, officials said overnight. ( Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle )

Damage from the explosion of the West Fertilizer plant, at right, is seen in an aerial view on Thursday, April 18, 2013, in West, Texas. A nursing home is at left. An apartment complex is at center. A massive

Firefighter toss debris from an apartment during search and rescue operation after an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, Thursday, April 18, 2013. A massive explosion at the plant killed as many as 15 people and injured more than 160, officials said overnight. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Firefighter toss debris from an apartment during search and rescue operation after an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, Thursday, April 18, 2013. A massive explosion at the plant killed as many

A Texas Game Warden controls traffic flow Thursday April 18, 2013 into an area leading to where a fertilizer plant explosion took place in the town of West, Texas near Waco.

A Texas Game Warden controls traffic flow Thursday April 18, 2013 into an area leading to where a fertilizer plant explosion took place in the town of West, Texas near Waco.

Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, Express-News

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An ambulance leaves Thursday April 18, 2013 at the area where a fertilizer blew up near the town of West, Texas.

An ambulance leaves Thursday April 18, 2013 at the area where a fertilizer blew up near the town of West, Texas.

Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, Express-News

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A house in West, Texas, burns after the West Fertilizer Plant exploded Wednesday, April 17. (Kristen Crow/Twitter/Waco Herald-Tribune)

A house in West, Texas, burns after the West Fertilizer Plant exploded Wednesday, April 17. (Kristen Crow/Twitter/Waco Herald-Tribune)

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A window is shattered on a commercial strip Thursday April 18, 2013 after an explosion took place at a fertilizer plant near the town of West, Texas.

A window is shattered on a commercial strip Thursday April 18, 2013 after an explosion took place at a fertilizer plant near the town of West, Texas.

Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, Express-News

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This photo from andybartee's Instagram shows a large plume of smoke emitted after fertilizer plant exploded in West, Texas, about 20 miles north of Waco. It's taken from the popular Czech Stop convenience station. (andybartee/Instagram)

This photo from andybartee's Instagram shows a large plume of smoke emitted after fertilizer plant exploded in West, Texas, about 20 miles north of Waco. It's taken from the popular Czech Stop convenience

WEST – Investigators have pinpointed the “seat' of Wednesday night's massive explosion in an effort to determine how it could have occurred, causing 14 deaths and damaging homes and buildings in a five-block area, a state official told reporters this morning.

“Knowing the seat of that explosion is important,” Kelly Kistner, assistant state fire marshal, said during a news conference in front of the West City Hall.

“We do have a large crater,” he said, declining to give any details on its location or dimensions.

The development is part of a long-term line of duty death investigation that likely will take several months before it is published by the state fire marshal's office, he said.

Steve Vanek, the mayor pro-tem, said the city has begun the first phase of a three-phase effort to allow residents with homes in the restricted area to re-enter. Some in the “Phase 1” area, with the least damage from Oak Street to Walnut Street, have returned, but do not have gas or water service.

Gas lines are being tested to determine when service can resume, he said. The city's public works department is working with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to ensure water quality in the area.

“We are working diligently to get that to him,” Vanek said of restoration of water service.

The Texas Department of Public Safety is helping to ensure a highly controlled process for re-entry of residents into the area. Residents have been lining up in vehicles at a checkpoint and assigned “entry numbers,” and permitted into the area between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Officials also announced a combined memorial service for the fallen first responders to be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Ferrell Center at Baylor University in nearby Waco. The arena seats more than 10,000 people for basketball.

“We expect a very large event,” said Joe Ondrasek, executive board secretary with the nonprofit Texas Line of Duty Death Task Force. He said the deaths of West firefighters and other emergency personnel has “hit close to home” for all first responders.

“We're a family,” he said. “We all understand the close relationship that these guys have locally.”